Pessimism and depression east and west.

Criticizes the comparative study of depression and pessimism in East and West Germany by H. M. Zullow et al (see record 1989-04985-001). The study used concepts cross-culturally whose meanings may be culturally determined and which may differ between these societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prostate cancer mortality in northern Sweden, with special reference to tumor grade and patient age

Endogenous nitric oxide (NO) mediates certain aspects of synaptic plasticity and neurotoxicity associated with NMDA-type glutamate receptors. Neuronal NO synthase contains a modular protein-protein interaction motif, termed the PDZ domain, that links the synthase to a synaptic protein complex containing postsynaptic density protein PSD-95 and NMDA receptors. Characterization of this pathway has provided new insights into the role of NO in brain physiology and disease.     

Antioxidants and cancer. Part VI. Selenium and age-adjusted human cancer mortality

The possible epidemiologic relationship between selenium occurrence and cancer mortality was studied in cities and states located in areas with different levels of selenium bioavailability. Statistically significant differences were found in age-specific cancer death rates among states with high, medium, and low selenium levels. The death rates for specific types of cancer showed a larger difference in males than in females in the states with high selenium levels. The greater difference between males and females may be related to sex difference or to the fact that males are heavier smokers and are aslo more likely to be exposed to industrial pollution. In the states with high selenium levels, there was significantly lower mortality in both males and females from several types of cancer, particularly the environmental problem indicators, such as gastrointestinal and urogenital types of cancer.     

College athletics, body size, and cancer mortality

Data are presented on mortality from neoplasms as determined from death certificates in a cohort of 8393 college men, according to athletic status in college. Major athletes (lettermen) died significantly more often from neoplasms than nonathletes. Mean age at death from neoplasms (underlying cause) was significantly lower in major athletes than in both minor athletes and nonathletes. After matching major athletes with nonathletes of comparable body size (height and weight), differences in proportional mortality and mean age at death from neoplasms persisted, although not statistically significant for the smaller samples. Correlation coefficients (Pearson r) and partial r's between weight in college and age at death from neoplasms were negative but of low magnitude. Some possible explanations for the differences between major athletes and nonathletes are discussed.     

Hypertension, antihypertensive drugs, and mortality from cancer among women

It is well known that black American women are poorly represented in medically oriented research and that this has far reaching implications for their personal health, the health of their families and the overall health of the larger society. The research reported was premised on the assumption that learning more about black American women's beliefs and values regarding health and illness could inform public policy initiatives in the area of cancer prevention and control so that a more equitable basis for participation could be achieved in future medical and scientific research. Qualitative methods of research were used in this investigation. A semi-structured interview guide was used in 36 h. of in-depth and face-to-face interviews with 13 black American women recruited to the study using a snowball technique. The women interviewed were middle-class, professional and semi-professional women. The results of the study indicate that there is a poor understanding by the dominant white medical community concerning the beliefs and values of black patients and that this compromises their health and illness care. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is often used as the rationale for the low recruitment of black women into clinical trials both therapeutic and non-therapeutic. The women interviewed do not agree with this claim. These women suggest that if they were asked to participate in trials and the trial was relevant to their primary medical concerns they would consider joining. The research results indicate the importance of using specific research methodologies and a number of recommendations are presented.     

Birth weight, gestational age and perinatal mortality: biological heterogeneity and measurement error

At low birth weight the variance of last menstrual period based gestational age is wide and the distribution is positively skewed toward higher values. In this study the variance of gestational age decreases rapidly as birth weight increases, skewness decreases and kurtosis increases in approaching the mean of the birth weight distribution. Some of the wider variance and positive skewness of gestational age at low birth weight appears to reflect heterogeneity of intrauterine growth, in which infants with high values of gestational age are growth retarded. We show by partitioning each birth weight group into two groups of infants with different gestational age distributions, that at low birth weight, infants with low gestational ages have higher neonatal mortality rates but lower fetal mortality rates than infants with a higher gestational age for birth weight. The differences in mortality described between small infants at different gestational ages suggest that infants with a high LMP-based gestational age have experienced a slower rate of intrauterine growth. Some authors interpret the distributional characteristics as indications of systematic error in last menstrual period based assessment of gestational age. It appears from this study that the extent of systematic error in the estimation of LMP based gestational age may have been overstated in the past.     

Calcium channel blockers, cancer incidence, and cancer mortality in a cohort of U.S. women: the nurses' health study

BACKGROUND: Some studies have suggested that the use of calcium channel blockers may increase the risk of cancer. A possible association of the use of calcium channel blockers with cancer incidence and cancer mortality was addressed using data from the Nurses' Health Study. METHODS: In this study, a total of 18,635 female nurses reported regularly taking at least 1 of 4 cardiovascular medications in 1988: diuretics, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and/or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. Cancer incidence and cancer deaths were ascertained until 1994. RESULTS: During 6 years of follow-up, 852 women were newly diagnosed with cancer and 335 women died of cancer. Women who reported the use of calcium channel blockers had no increased risk of newly diagnosed cancer compared with those taking other cardiovascular drugs (relative risk=1.02; 95% CI 0.83-1.26). The relative risk of dying from cancer associated with the self-reported use of calcium channel blockers was 1.25 (95% CI 0.91-1.72). Relative risks were adjusted for the following self-reported factors: age; weight; height; cholesterol level; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; smoking; alcohol intake; physical activity; menopausal status; postmenopausal hormone use; aspirin use; and history of diabetes, cancer, stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, angina, and hypertension. Regarding site specific cancer incidence and mortality, only lung cancer incidence was somewhat increased (RR=1.61; 95% CI 0.88-2.96). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest no important increase in overall cancer incidence or cancer mortality related to the self-reported use of calcium channel blockers.     

Residential mobility, well-being, and mortality.

We tested the relation between residential mobility and well-being in a sample of 7,108 American adults who were followed for 10 years. The more residential moves participants had experienced as children, the lower the levels of well-being as adults. As predicted, however, the negative association between the number of residential moves and well-being was observed among introverts but not among extraverts. We further demonstrated that the negative association between residential mobility and well-being among introverts was explained by the relative lack of close social relationships. Finally, we found that introverts who had moved frequently as children were more likely to have died during the 10-year follow-up. Among extraverts, childhood residential mobility was unrelated to their mortality risk as adults. These findings indicate that residential moves can be a risk factor for introverts and that extraversion can be an interpersonal resource for social relationships and well-being in mobile societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential Associations of Dispositional Optimism and Pessimism With Coping, Goal Attainment, and Emotional Adjustment During Sport Competition.

This study examined the associations of dispositional optimism and pessimism with athletes' coping, goal attainment, and affective states during a sport competition. Results of path analyses showed that dispositional optimism and pessimism correlated differently with coping and affective variables. Mediating analyses indicated that task-oriented coping partially mediated the relationship of optimism with postcompetition positive affective state, whereas disengagement-oriented coping fully mediated the relationship of pessimism with postcompetition anger/dejection. Ancillary hierarchical regressions also indicated that distraction-oriented coping may lead to positive outcomes when used in concordance with task-oriented coping. Overall, these results lent credence to the utility of a bidimensional model of optimism and pessimism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cervical cancer mortality in Belgium, 1955-1989. A descriptive study

This study describes trends in cervical cancer mortality among women in Belgium from 1954 to 1989. Data are analysed by means of the standardised mortality rate, age- and cohort-specific mortality rates and standardised cohort mortality ratios. The age-standardised mortality rate decreased progressively from 6.3/100,000 women-years in the first period (1955-1959) to 3.8/100,000 in 1985-1989, indicating a decline of 39.7% over the seven quinquennial periods. A decrease was observed in almost all age groups between 30 and 69 years. In the last 15 years, no further decline, but even a discrete increase, occurred for the age categories younger than 50 years. The successive cohorts born between 1915 and 1939 expressed a continuing lower risk of cervical cancer mortality. This trend was not observed for the most recent generations, for whom even a slight increase of the standardised cohort mortality ratio could be distinguished.     

Psychological stress, occurrence of cancer and cause-specific mortality]

Psychological stress has been claimed to contribute to the onset of cancer and to increase mortality from a number of nonmalignant diseases. We investigated the effect of a genuine psychological stressor, i.e. cancer in a child, on the incidence of cancer and mortality from nonmalignant diseases of 11,231 parents in a Danish nationwide population-based study. The children were identified from records in the Danish Cancer Registry for the period 1943-1985; their parents were identified from population registers. Overall, 1665 parental malignancies were diagnosed from the date the cancer of the child was reported through 1992, as compared with 1702 expected from national incidence rates, to yield standardized incidence ratios of 1.0 (95% confidence interval, 0.9-1.0) for all parents, 1.0 for mothers and 1.0 for fathers. No excess mortality was seen from causes associated with allergic illness, autoimmune conditions, chronic illness or changes in behaviour. Our data provide no support for the hypothesis of an association between psychological stress and the incidence of cancer or mortality from nonmalignant diseases. We conclude that the human organism is highly adaptable, even to extreme psychological stress.     

Population density and cancer mortality by gender and age in England and Wales and the Western World 1963-93

Usually, it is the purpose of a clinical trial to demonstrate the superiority of a (new) treatment in comparison to another treatment with regard to a well-defined criterion of efficacy. However, other aspects rather than improved efficacy might be regarded as advantages of a new therapy, i.e. less or less severe adverse events, a more simple applicability, or a lower price. In this case, it may be sufficient to show a "comparable" efficacy (therapeutic equivalence). Unfortunately, equivalence studies can lead to severe problems of interpretation in case of insufficient methodological planning. In general, more detailed information must be available in advance compared to the common (superiority) trials. Very carefully designed trials are necessary to evaluate the therapeutic equivalence of treatments.     

Five-year mortality in the city of Bergen, Norway, according to age, sex and blood pressure

The City of Bergen was covered by a Mass Miniature Radiology Survey in 1963-64. On the initiative of the University of Bergen, examinations of BP were included. The initial survey has been reported previously (1). This analysis concerns the relationship between the 5 1/4-year cause-specific mortality and BP. Non-attenders have excess mortality in relation to attenders and this is mostly explained by a generally high mortality among bedridden people. The age-specific total mortality shows a clear pattern of a general increase with increasing BP. At high systolic BP levels, the 5-year mortality is independent of whether the age is 45 or 75. The systolic age-adjusted curve for males increases quite linearly, while the diastolic curve is more U-shaped. Thus, when comparing the predictive power of BP, allowance must be made for this fact. Using a second order polynomial prediction function, this conclusion is reversed. The mortality from cerebral stroke shows a dramatic increase with increasing BP. The diastolic curve shows a bend-off for high values, above 110 mmHg. This may be due to the offer of treatment which such patients received after the screening. Also the CHD mortality curve flattens for high BP values, especially for diastolic BP.     

Cholesterolemia and total, cardiovascular and cancer mortality. Study of a cohort of 220,000 people]

The distribution of cholesterolemia and their relationship to total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and cancer mortality were studied in a population of 125,513 men and 96,301 women, aged 16-90. Cholesterolemia in the population increases with age, up to age 50-60 for men and 60-70 for women. Beyond these ages, cholesterolemia decreases very significantly for men and moderately for women. Upon global examination of the entire population, the relationship between cholesterolemia and total mortality is observed as a U-shaped curve. The relationship with cancer mortality is slightly negative in men and appears as a U-shaped curve in women. The relationship with cardiovascular mortality in men is strongly positively correlated when adjusted for body mass index, blood pressure, tobacco consumption, gamma GT, and age. This relationship is not significant in women. There is a significant interaction in the relationship between cholesterolemia and mortality in men for weight, body mass index, vital capacity, maximum expiration volume per second, tobacco consumption, urea, serum albumin, hematocrit, hemoglobin, alkaline phosphatases, gamma GT, red cell volume, and sedimentation rate. Age is a fundamental variable to take into account. Thus, in men under 50 years of age at the time of inclusion, the relationship between cholesterolemia and total mortality shows a positive tendency, and the relationship with cardiovascular mortality is strongly positive. In men over 65 years of age, these relationships are negative. The same tendencies exist for cancer mortality. The reasons for these negative relationships may be related to the decreased cholesterol levels in subjects with malnutrition or diseases (essentially hepatic diseases); this is especially true in older subjects. These data push for additional in-depth analysis of these relationships and interactions, according to age categories and detailed causes of mortality. They also reinforce the idea that, in some patients, low cholesterolemia appears to be a marker for predisposition or the result, but not a cause, of cancer.     

Incidence, survival and mortality in cervical cancer in Norway, 1956-1990

Long-term trends in incidence, survival and mortality were examined in women with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix, diagnosed in Norway in the 35-year period 1956-1990. During the 1970s the number of cervical smears increased substantially in Norway, although no organised screening programme was introduced. Special attention was paid to the time period 1971-1990 to evaluate the effect of the extensive spontaneous screening. In addition, the prognostic importance of clinical stage and age was explored. In the squamous cell carcinoma patients the incidence rate peaked in the time period 1971-1975, since when there has been a decrease. In the adenocarcinoma patients the incidence rate rose through the years 1976-1990. Also, the proportion of adenocarcinomas increased in this time period. The mortality rates in both histological types declined modestly through the years 1966-1990. A more favourable stage distribution was noted among the squamous cell carcinomas (P = 0.00), but not among the adenocarcinomas, when comparing the two diagnostic periods 1971-1975 and 1981-1985. The multivariate analysis (GLIM) revealed that stage was the most important prognostic factor in both histological types (P = 0.00). In the squamous cell carcinoma patients the relative rate increased (P = 0.04) in the last period. There was a tendency towards a poorer prognosis in younger women in this group, but age did not prove to be an important prognostic factor (P = 0.08).     

Drinking water and cancer mortality in Louisiana

Multivariant regression analysis indicates a statistically significant relation between cancer mortality rates in Louisiana and drinking water obtained from the Missippi River. This is true for total cancer, cancer of the urinary organs, and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract.